All Rise...

The Charge

"Addiction is a brain disease."

Opening Statement

Where's "Montana Meth?" The March 15 New York Times article
that peaked my interest about HBO's 14-part Addiction series featured a
teary-eyed picture of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed addict portrayed in the
above-mentioned documentary short. But Ms. Montana Meth and her story are
conspicuously absent from the four-disc Addiction DVD set, as are tears
and overt emotion in general.

Facts of the Case

Addiction is a sobering, yet clinical look at addictions and their
treatments. The series, a collection of documentary shorts by famous filmmakers
(none of whom I'd ever heard of), as well as expert interviews and reports on
new drug and treatment trials, fills out HBO's The Addiction Project, a valuable
resource for anyone struggling with addictions in some capacity. The series
advocates the controversial notion that addiction is a disease like any other,
and benefits from multi-faceted treatment plans, including prescription
medication.

The Evidence

Admittedly, the four-disc set was daunting. But Disc One starts out benignly
enough, even if some of the opening shots are grainy. This disc features a
90-minute documentary divided into nine shorts—the heart of the on-air
series. "Saturday Night in a Dallas ER" delivers what the title
promises, and includes death and gaping wounds. The moral of the piece is that
multiple traumas are caused by drugs and alcohol and the resulting cost
(monetary and otherwise) to society is great.

The other shorts address "The Adolescent Addict," "The
Science of Relapse," "Brain Imaging," new medications available,
and the handling of addiction in the health-care system. All of these pieces are
compelling due to the emotional gravity of addiction, but they aren't of the
shock-and-awe variety that drug documentaries usually resort to. Instead, these
are loaded with interviews of tired parents and strung-out kids speaking with
amazingly calmness about their travails. (HBO repeatedly thanks the
participants, in a printed message, for being so open with their lives.)
Interspersed throughout the shorts, and serving as the seamless transition
between the nine mini-films, are interviews with long-titled experts in the
field.

Throughout the four-disc set the same experts—and their long
titles—are introduced again and again; this is my first major complaint
about the packaging and editing of this project. It seems like no thought was
given to the continuous viewer when preparing the DVD set. Discs Two, Three and
Four are all part of Addiction: The Supplementary Series, a.k.a.
Addiction: The Redundant Series. Disc Three consists entirely of
interviews with experts, but after the first interview with Nora Volkow, MD, I
quit watching. That's because I had already seen most of Ms. Volkow's interviews
on Disc One in bits and pieces. Furthermore, the questions in the interview
weren't voiced but rather flashed as white text on a black screen; this is a
difficult format if you are a slow reader, or plan to watch the DVD while
re-gripping your tennis racquet. One of the more compelling shorts, "A
Mother's Desperation," is shown as an edited version on Disc One, then in
full on Disc Four. Had I known this initially, I would have only watched the
longer version; of course I ended up watching it anyway, with my finger on the
fast-forward button, searching for original material.

Disc Two ponders such compelling subjects as "What is Addiction?"
and "Understanding Relapse." At this point I realized the audience for
the series might be middle-school health classes. HBO is making a public service
announcement with this series. If you missed the talking points throughout 360
minutes of video they are outlined in the accompanying booklet under the bright
orange heading, "Key Messages." Let me summarize: "Addiction is a
brain disease," "Relapse is part of the disease…,"
"Addiction is a treatable illness," and "Addiction is NOT a moral
failure."

There's little notice throughout the documentary that the above messages are
controversial. Many people, rightly or wrongly, think drug addiction IS a moral
issue and that treating addicted people with more drugs is ridiculous. It is
admirable that HBO is trying to alleviate the stigmatization that surrounds
addiction, but at the same time the documentary seems rather one-sided,
especially considering its focus on pharmaceutical-based treatments.

The most compelling short, "Steamfitters Local Union 638," offers
an engaging story of an alcohol-addled steamfitters union that is successfully
battling the addictions in their midst. This is the kind of story that good
documentaries are made of. In an industry where on-job alcohol use was part of
the culture, the men internally decided they were destroying their lives and
that the "systems"—especially insurance and health care
industries—weren't there best allies. This story assigned no blame, and
didn't look for easy cures. It systematically addressed the pervasive presence
of alcohol in the men's lives, and then worked to eradicate that presence. Tears
flowed as a colleague's suicide is relived, and a group of behemoth men identify
themselves as alcoholics and addicts, each self-recognition an admittance of
need. This story offers a unique and candid insight into the lives of the
addicted, and those trying to help them. Had the entire 90-minute documentary
been this probing, the series might be up for an Emmy. Instead, pharmaceutical
reps everywhere are patting themselves on the back for a job well done.

Visually the movie-making aspect of Addiction is uninspiring. As I've
written before, drug use is fertile ground for stellar filmmaking. And while I
am pleased this serious series didn't sensationalize the habit, I was still left
with the cold feeling that I'd just stared at hospital walls for 360 minutes (or
however many minutes I actually watched). The constant use of written text, both
for the experts' titles and for directing viewers to find more information on
Disc X or Y or on the Web, is further annoying and a bit confusing. I still
can't figure out what each of the 14 advertised parts are, and I can't imagine
the material on the Web is original. HBO went for broke with this four-disc set,
and ended up overextending themselves a bit. And I still want to know where
"Montana Meth" is.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

The documentary and corresponding supplementary informational material is two
legs up on any informational video I was ever shown in health class. I was
amazed to see the success that a Northeastern drug court is having in cleaning
up criminally-inclined addicts; watching one fellow's sunken eyes and sallow
complexion slowly regain elasticity as he used medication to treat his
alcoholism had me convinced of prescription medication's merits in treating
addiction; and every expert deserves to flaunt their title, as they have devoted
their lives to an extremely noble cause.

Closing Statement

I went away from this series thankful that I didn't NEED to watch it. I
gained new respect for the struggles of addicts and their families, as well as
for the scientists, counselors, and doctors who work with addictions every
day.

The Verdict

Guilty. I'm convinced that addiction is a brain disease. And even if I
wasn't, even if I thought addicts were just weak people, this series shows that
it's important to consider the possibility that addiction is so much more than
just moral fallibility—for the sake of addict's families.